The present invention relates to buttons and particularly to fabric covered button assemblies such as are used in apparel, upholstery and the like.
Buttons generally have many and varied uses in numerous fields and, in certain embodiments such as the tufted upholstery of furniture, the manufacture of certain forms of wearing apparel, e.g., women's dresses, and like uses, it has long been conventional practice to enhance the overall aesthetic appearance of the basic article by covering the buttons being used therein with the same fabric or similar material employed in the basic article. Typically, a particular button construction is employed for this purpose basically using a button cap or shell to be covered by the fabric or material and adapted to be affixed to a collet or other body member clamping the fabric edges to hold the fabric in place about the cap. Examples of this type of button construction are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,829,935; 3,908,236; 4,012,812; and 4,123,825.
While many various forms of this basic type of covered button assembly have been proposed and used in the past, virtually all such button assemblies suffer the common disadvantage that the fabric covered cap is likely when placed under stress to separate from the main body of the button, commonly referred to in the art as "button popping". Once a button cap has become separated, it is difficult if not impossible to securely re-affix it to the main body of the button, thereby leaving the unsightly main body visible in the article and sometimes creating a potential hazard in the continued use of the article if the main body has any sharp edges or is otherwise likely to cut or be snagged on other articles.
Various types of arrangements have been proposed for securing the button cap and the body member together against separation but such arrangements either do not sufficiently prevent separation of the two components or do not facilitate use of the same cap and body member with differing covering fabric thicknesses or suffer both disadvantages. For instance, in one known form of this basic type of covered button assembly, a hollow hub having an interior serration is formed on the inner surface of the button cap and a cone-shaped portion is formed on the body member to be engaged in the hub to lock the cap and body member together. Although this construction is relatively effective for locking the button components together, it is relatively ineffectice for adapting to securely hold fabrics of differing thicknesses.
While it is considered advantageous that a button assembly be capable of use with varying thicknesses of fabric, conventional button assemblies are generally designed with limited tolerances between the button cap and main body to provide a reasonably tight fit for the purpose of securely holding the fabric in place therebetween, and such button assemblies are, therefore, usable in most instances with only a limited range of fabric thicknesses, and different button assemblies and/or closing dies are required for different fabric thicknesses. Moreover, incorrect use of such button assemblies with fabrics of thicknesses other than those for which the button assemblies are intended, which often occurs, creates an even greater likelihood of the incidence of button popping.
In contrast, the present invention provides a button which is particularly constructed for secure assembly with fabrics of widely varying thicknesses and to conform in assembly to the particular thickness of fabric being used to securely hold the fabric in place.